Learning about macros with MyPersonaliTea.

A couple of years ago a friend used the word macro nutrients and she sounded so smart and fit. I had no idea what a macro nutrient was or what all the fuss was about. I decided I would start learning about macros. What I learnt about macro nutrients was that macronutrients are what make up the caloric content of a food. So what makes up the main caloric content of food? Fat, carbohydrates and protein are the main components of food that make up the caloric content. Or at least, these are the main components that most people are concerned about. But how many calories of fat, carbs and protein should I be eating? At the time I was seeing a trainer a few times a week and his suggestion was the following:

How much fat, protein and carbs should you eat in a day?

45%-65% of total calories consumed per day should be carbohydrates

20%-35% of total calories consumed per day should be fat

Approximately 1-1.2g protein / pound of body weight / day. If you’re trying to loose or gain weight, use target body weight when calculating the number of grams of protein per day.

Next I was wondering, how do I actually calculate the number of calories of fat, protein and carbs I was getting in a day? Most food can be weighed but I needed to figure out how many calories were in the quantities of food I was eating.

First I needed to know how many calories were in 1 gram of the food I was eating. A quick search online and I found the following:

Calories per gram of macronutrient

1 gram	KCal
Carbohydrate	4
Fat	9
Protein	4

This was helpful. But now I needed to figure out the composition of all the foods I normally eat are made of and how much of each I was eating. This is where the real work started. I had gotten into the habit of weighing and measuring my food. But now I needed some sort of chart I could refer to for the macro nutrient break down. Below is a list of the foods I commonly ate and their caloric content both as a whole and in terms of the macro nutrients fat, carbs and protein.

Macro nutrients for some common foods

food	quantity	calories (Kcal)	fat (g)	carbs (g)	protein (g)
almonds	100g	576	49	22	21
almonds	1c (95g)	547	47	21	20
apple	100g	52	0.2	14	0.3
avocado	1	322	29	17	4
avocado	100g	160	15	9	2
avocado oil	1 tbsp	124	14	0	0
baby carrots	100g	35	0.1	8	0.6
bagel	100g	250	1.5	49	10
baking powder	1 tsp (4.6g)	2	0	1.3	0
banana	100g	89	0.3	23	1.1
basmati rice cooked	100g	121	0.38	25.22	3.5
basmati rice cooked	1c	191	0.61	39.85	5.6
blueberries	1c	85	0.3	21	1.1
broccoli cooked	100g	34	0.4	7	2.8
brown rice cooked	100g	111	0.9	23	2.6
brown rice cooked	1c (195g)	216	1.8	45	5
brown sugar	1c packed	836	0	216	0.3
butter	1 tbsp (14.2g)	102	12	0	0.1
butter	1c (227g)	1627	184	0.1	1.9
canola oil	1 tsbp	124	14	0	0
carrots	100g	41	0.2	10	0.9
cashews	100g	553	44	30	18
celery	100g	16	0.2	3	0.7
chick peas	100g	164	6	61	15
chicken breast	100g	165	3.6	0	31
chicken thigh	100g	177	8	0	24
chocolate chip cookie (homemade)	100g	488	28	58	6
chocolate chip cookie (homemade)	1 cookie (16g)	78	4.5	9	0
corn relish	1 tbsp	20
corn starch	1c (128g)	488	0.1	117	0.3
corned beef brisket cooked	100g	251	19	0.5	18
cottage cheese	100	0.5 cup	1	8	15
coucous	1c	176	0.25	36.46	5.95
croutons	7g (7 croutons)	35	7
cucumber	100g	16	0.1	3.6	0.7
cucumber (peeled)	100g	12	0.1	2.2	0.6
dark chocolate	100g	546	31	61	4
dark chocolate	1 oz (28.4g)	155	9	17	1.4
egg	1 large	91	11	1	6
eggplant	100g	25	0.2	7	1
farro (uncooked)	100g	330	3	70	15
flaked light tuna	85g	100	1.5	4	16
garlic	100g	149	0.5	33	6
garlic	1 clove (3g)	5	0	1	0.2
ginger	100g	80	0.8	18	1.8
ginger	0.25c (slices 24g)	19	0.2	4.3	0.4
green beans	100g	31	0.1	7	1.8
green leaf lettuce	100g	15	0.2	2.9	1.4
green peppers	100g	20	0.2	4.6	0.9
green peppers	1c (92g)	18	0.2	4.3	0.8
ground beef (85% lean)	100g	250	15	0	26
honey	1 tbsp	64
iceberg lettuce	100g	14	0.1	3	0.9
ketchup	100g	112	0.2	26	1.3
ketchup	1 tbsp (17g)	19	0	4.5	0.2
lamb (0.25″ fat, cooked)	100g	294	21	0	25
large egg (scrambed)	1	91	11	1	6
lemon	100g	29	0.3	9	1.1
lupini beans	1 c	200	8	6	26
mango	100g	60	0.4	15	0.8
mango	1c (165g)	99	0.6	25	1.4
maple syrup	1 tbsp (20g)	52	0	13	0
mayonnaise (helmann’s)	1 tsbp	90	10	0	0
mayonnaise (miracle whip)	1 tbsp	40	3.5	2	0.1
melba toast	4	80	0.8		2.4
melba toast	1	20	0.2	3.8	0.6
milk chocolate	100g	535	30	59	8
mustard	100g	66	4	5	4.4
mustard	1 tsp (5g)	3	0.2	0.3	0.2
ocra	100g	33	0.2	7	1.9
olive oil	1 tbsp	119	14	0	0
onion	100g	40	0.1	9	1.1
onion	1c (160g)	64	0.2	15	1.8
orange	100g	47	0.1	12	0.9
papaya	100g	43	0.3	11	0.5
papaya	1c (pieces) (145g)	62	0.4	16
paramassan cheese	2 tbsp	45
paramassan cheese	1 tbsp	22.5	1.4
PB & Me	2 tbsp	45	1.5	4	6
peacans	100g	690	72	14	9
peacans	1c (99g)	684	71	14	9
peanut butter (natural)	1 tbsp	90			4
peanut butter (natural)	2 tbsp	180	16		8
peanut oil	1 tbsp	119	14	0	0
peanuts	100g	567	49	16	26
peanuts	1c (146g)	828	72	24	38
pear	100g	57	0.1	15	0.4
plain greek yogurt (0% liberte)	0.75c	100	0	6	17
pork chop	100g	231	14	0	24
potatoe	100g	77	0.1	17	2
protein powder (whey isolate)	1 scoop	120			20
quinoa cooked	1c	222	4	40	8
ranch dressing	1 tbsp	35
red leaf lettuce	100g	16	0.2	2.3	1.3
rolled oats	1c (81g)	307	5.3	55.9	10.6
rolled oats	100g	379
rolled oats	1c(81g)	307	5.3	55.9	10.6
romaine lettuce	100g	17	0.3	3.3	1.2
salsa	2 tbsp	10
salsa (selection brand)	0.25c (4 tbsp)	25	0	5	1
sesame oil	1 tsbp	120	14	0	0
Shirataki noodles	113g	15	0.5	3	<1
shrimp cocktail sauce	1 oz (28.4g)	30	0	7	0
shrimp cooked	100g	99	0.3	0.2	24
spinach (boiled)	100g	23	0.3	3.8	3
steak	100g	271	19	0	25
steamed mixed vegetables	1c	90	0.2	19.4	4.5
strawberries	100g	33	0.3	8	0.7
sweet potato	100g	86	0.1	20	1.6
sweet potato mashed	100g	101	0.2	23	2
talipia (cooked)	100g	129	2.7	0	26
tomato	100g	18	0.2	3.9	0.9
trout	100g	190	8	0	27
tuna canned, water drained	1 can (5.8oz)	191			42.1
vanilla greek yogurt (0% liberte)	0.75c	140	0	20	15
vanilla greek yogurt (2% liberte)	0.75c	160
vegetable oil	1 tbsp	124	14	0	0
walnuts	100g	654	65	14	15
walnuts	1c (80g)	523	52	11	12
walnuts	1c (pieces, 120g)	785	78	16	18
wheat flour	1c (120g)	455	1.2	95	13
white bread	100g	265	3.2	49	9
white bread	1 slice (25g)	66	0.8	12	2.3
white corn	100g	365	1.4	74	9
white mushrooms	100g	22	0.3	3.3	3.1
white mushrooms	1c (70g)	16	0.2	2.3	2.2
white sugar	1c (200g)	773	0	200	0
white, long grained cooked rice	100g	130	0.3	28	2.7
white, long grained cooked rice	1c	206	0.4	45	4.3
whole wheat bread	100g	247	3.4	41	13
whole wheat bread	1 slice (28g)	69	0.9	12	3.6
yam cake	28g	0	0	<1	0
zucchini	100g	17	0.3	3.1	1.2
zuccinni relish	1 tbsp	15

This is just start. Next will be the calculations for a meal or day. One thing I did find helpful while learning about macros was conversions of units. Tablespoons to teaspoons, grams to ounces and vice versa.

Helpful conversions

1 tbsp	3 tsp
1/4 c	4 tbsp
5 ounces	142 g
1 ounces	29 g
3.6 ounces	100 g
1 lbs fat	3426-3752 Kcal

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Lani and Norm

I enjoy learning and sharing that knowledge.Sharing has been in many forms over the years, as a teaching assistant, university lecturer, Pilates instructor, math tutor and just sharing with friends and family.Throughout, summarizing what I have learnt in words has always been there and continues to through blog posts, articles, video and the ever growing forms of content out there!